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RedTube Files $6M Suit After Hackers Redirect Site

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Operators of RedTube claim that hackers obtained its domain name server password and in July redirected its traffic to another website.

The accusation, made in a filing at U.S. District Court in San Jose, does not name the identities of the hackers, but said that the “defendants did so with malice, ill will and intent to harm [RedTube].”

Twenty “John Doe” defendants are named in the complaint.

The suit brought on by parent company Bright Imperial Ltd. of Hong Kong seeks no less than $6 million, in addition to other monetary damages.

The suit said the hacking took place on July 24 and lasted for a “period of time.”

RedTube, which hires Sayreville, N.J.-based Choopa to host its content, said defendants obtained its passwords for its Network Solutions account and changed the domain-name server account so that they could redirect traffic to the unaffiliated website. At press time, it was not determined which site or sites it redirected to.

RedTube said it lost “millions of visits” by its customers by the hackers’ efforts. It also said that it lost value to its business and its advertising rates that are dependent upon its traffic. The site has about 7.5 million daily users in the U.S.

“Defendants conduct was specifically designed to deprive [RedTube] of income and goodwill resulting from visits to its site and the utilization of its services and to unlawfully acquire economic advantage for themselves as the result of rendering its site and service unavailable or less readily available,” the suit said.

The suit claims violation of the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, unfair competition, tortuous interference with prospective business advantage and trespass.

RedTube attorney Thayer Preece told XBIZ she could not readily discuss other details of the case.